Eyes of the Blind
by Katty008
Summary: In the present Kaito Kid is shot out of the sky just as Hakuba Saguru manages to put the pieces together. In the future Kaito and Saguru are hiding in Montreal and on the run. As the story unfolds these events are connected and most things become clear.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Magic Kaito. Did you really think I did?**

**IMPORTANT:**

**Observe: my grand experiment. Each chapter will consist of two distinct sections. The first section will take place in the future in Montreal, Quebec. Don't ask why Quebec. It's one of those 'why not?' things. The second section will take place in what amounts to the present in Fanfiction-land. As a result the chapters will occasionally be a little on the short side, but that is merely to keep the format consistent. Enjoy?**

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It was late evening in wintery Quebec. Outside, snow lay in great dunes against every available surface. Inside the deceptively dingy apartment building, a merry fire roared in the hearth, warming the two occupants of the room. One lay sprawled across the armrests of a large armchair, one of his hands flying across the surface of the Braille book in his lap. The other sat rather more sedately on the nearby couch, a laptop in his lap.

"Oh look," said the one with the laptop, his tone of voice indicating anything other than surprise. "Our Wikipedia page's been updated."

The other's fingers paused. "Really? Of what slant?"

"A fan, definitely," the blond replied.

"I wonder why they don't just lock the page and be done with it," the dark haired one mused. "It would save everyone so much trouble."

The blond hit refresh on the web browser. "It's been updated again already; someone refuting the last statement."

"Are you lacking mental stimulus?" the other suddenly asked.

"Well, I can't exactly be noticeable. I've been doing the best I can all things considered."

"Saguru," the other said slowly, "You're _stalking_ our Wikipedia page. Obviously _something_ is lacking."

"Kaito," the one named Saguru said exasperatedly, running a hand through his hair, "I spend my days working as a cashier in a convenience store under the name Samuel Harper. I spend my nights anonymously solving what's in the papers. This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I was planning my life."

"'M sorry," Kaito mumbled quietly.

"It's not your fault," Saguru replied, equally quietly. "I"m hungry," he said quickly, changing the topic. "You want anything?"

"Chips please!" Kaito chirped.

"Right." Saguru set the laptop down on the couch and headed for the kitchen. The screen stared at one of the men it mentioned when it started out with, _Kaito Kid is the identity of a thief taken on by three people. They are Toichi Kuroba, his son, Kaito Kuroba, and a detective who was originally chasing Kaito Kuroba, Saguru Hakuba._

* * *

Hakuba Saguru cursed as he watched Kaito Kid fly away once again. He would swear he could hear the thief's mocking laughter from the rooftop upon which he stood. As he watched, Kid flew lower and weaved in and out of the skyscrapers. As if he was going to try a landing relatively close but still out of sight. Saguru sighed. If he tried to follow, undoubtedly he'd run into Kuroba. He turned to leave the roof when he heard a shot.

Saguru whirled around. Kid was well out of sight, but the shot had come from the direction he'd left in. Cursing again, Saguru ran down the fire escape as fast as he could. As he skipped the last few steps and started to sprint into the night, Inspector Nakamori called after him. "Not now Inspector!" Saguru shouted back. Really, truly not now. He might be overreacting, but on the off-chance that he wasn't...

He wanted Kid behind bars. Not dead.

Saguru ran towards the sound of the shot, realizing that he had a snowball's chance in hell of finding anything in the mess of streets and back alleys. He slowed when he saw a car pull out of a side street. That old man that Kuroba and Aoko-san hung out with, Jii-san, was driving. In the back seat was riding Kuroba's mother, and she looked worried. Wondering if he had hit upon something, Saguru sprinted into the side street once he reached it. He had no chance of following the car on foot.

Saguru pulled a penlight out of his pocket and swept it around, searching. He spotted a trash can the lid of which looked distinctly askew. He investigated further and found a light metal pole, about a foot long, behind it. The pole was smooth on one end, but the other end was jagged, as if it had been broken by something. Saguru looked around further. On the other side of the skinny street, he found a small patch of blood. He sighed in relief. If this was all there was, then Kid was in no life-threatening danger.

* * *

He groaned softly. "Don't try to move," a worried voice said next to him. He recognized it after some effort as his mother's.

"What happened?" he asked quietly, his head killing him.

"Glider broke, it was probably the sniper. You've got a head injury, we're taking you to the hospital."

"Hospital?" _Kid + Hospital = Bad_ his brain sluggishly churned out.

"Don't worry, you've been dressed in your own clothes. You just fell down the stairs. Now rest."

"M'kay," he agreed. Rest sounded like a good idea. A great one, actually.

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**I break brain yet? The next chapter should be up in a few days. Reviews are love.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Magic Kaito. As if.**

**Google has changed their logo. That makes me twitch inside.**

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Grab item. Slide. Press a few buttons. Repeat as necessary. Take money. Give change, receipt. "Thank you, have a nice day."

Saguru missed heists. He missed the sheer unpredictability of them. He missed the sheer unpredictability of a lot of things. But most of all, he missed being able to look forward to doing a job that was in no way monotonous.

Grab item. Slide. Press a few buttons. Repeat as necessary. Take money. Give change, receipt. "Thank you, have a nice day."

He glanced at his next customer, and his heart went plummeting into his stomach. It wasn't a customer, it was a police officer in uniform. He quickly summoned up everything Kaito had told him about situations like this, and smiled in a friendly way at the officer. "Good afternoon officer."

The officer smiled back, and Saguru sensed it was genuine. "Good afternoon." His heart crawled back up to where it was supposed to be. So the law hadn't caught up with them yet. The officer read his name tag. "I'm Officer Desmond. Samuel Harper's your name? Do you usually tend to this till?"

Saguru nodded. "Almost always. Why?"

Officer Desmond indicated the windows on part of the storefront with his head. "We're trying to track someone down. Not because they're a criminal, but because we'd like to thank them. Do you read the papers?"

Saguru nodded again. "That mysterious telephone detective?"

Officer Desmond nodded back. "Yes. They've helped us to solve several important cases. We've been trying to trace the phone they use, but we've had no luck. They're always gone by the time we get there. They always use pay phones too, so we can't track them through ownership. But they've used the pay phone outside this store several times, more than any other pay phone. I noticed that you can see the pay phone from here. If you can keep an eye on it and, if we ask, tell us who used it, it would help a lot in our search."

"I'd be happy to help."

Officer Desmond pulled out a notebook and a pen. "Wonderful. If you could just tell me when you're working?"

"Monday through Friday 8:30 to 4:30, and Saturdays 8:30 to noon. I get Saturday afternoons and Sundays off."

Officer Desmond wrote all that down and then smiled gratefully at Saguru. "Thanks a lot Samuel. If the telephone detective calls during your hours, I'll be sure to come and ask. Thank you again."

"You're very welcome Officer," Saguru replied.

"Have a nice day."

The corner of Saguru's mouth twitched upward wryly as soon as Officer Desmond left. Keep an eye out for himself? That might be a little hard.

* * *

Saguru unlocked the door of the apartment. "I'm home!"

"Whad'ja bring me? Whad'ja bring me?" came a dry tone of voice.

"Hah hah. Very funny Kaito." Saguru glanced over and saw Kaito in his usual position in the armchair, the radio playing quietly by his head. Saguru walked over to the table and put the two bags of groceries on it. "Very funny and yet spot on. There was some expired chocolate, and the manager let me have it. Do you want dessert now or later?"

"Chocolate expires?" Kaito asked, not managing to keep neither the incredulity nor the accusation of sacrilege out of his voice.

"Which is why I'm going to look at it before you stick one paw on it." Saguru reach into the bag and pulled out a large Hershey milk chocolate bar. He opened the wrapper and glanced at it, sniffing. He broke off a piece and stuck it in his mouth. "Hm. Could be worse." He broke off a larger piece and gave it to Kaito. "The rest is for after dinner."

"Thank you for the chocolate!" Kaito stuck the edge of the chocolate in his mouth and sucked. His joyous moan as he did so sounded deviously inappropriate. It was probably on purpose too. If Saguru thought his life was boring, then that must be nothing compared to what Kaito's life was like. "Oh, listen," Kaito said as his fingers found the volume on the radio and turned it up, "They're talking about you."

_"The telephone detective has rung again, this time solving the double murder on Rue Morgue. Chief Inspector Grayson is once again happy for the detective's help, but again reminds the public that he wishes the telephone detective would come forward."_

_ "It's been wonderful to have such an assistant in our crime solving,"_ the voice of Chief Inspector Grayson came on. _"We only wish that he would come forward so we can thank him for his help, as well as bring him in on more crimes in a more official capacity."_

_"And that was Chief Inspector Grayson commenting earlier outside the police station. At that brief meeting with the press he announced that an award would be given to the person who could successfully lead the police to the telephone detective. In other news..."_

Kaito reached over and turned the volume down again. "Wow. You're getting quite famous."

Saguru started putting the groceries away. "A little too famous. An Officer Desmond showed up at work today and asked me to keep an eye on the pay phone outside the store in case the telephone detective called during my shift. Quite impossible, but still a bit close for comfort."

"Don't tell me you're thinking of moving on again?"

Saguru shook his head even though he knew Kaito couldn't see it. "No, not yet. It's too much hassle to do so on a whim. Let's let them get a bit closer."

"That's my Saguru, brushing hands with danger."

* * *

When he opened his eyes again, his head was still killing him except slightly dulled. He assumed he was on pain meds or something like that. He blinked several times, but the room remained pitch black. That was strange.

He heard movement to his left. "Kaito!" his mother exclaimed. "You're awake."

Kaito grunted in response. "Where'm I?"

"The hospital, remember? You fell down the stairs."

"But... aren't the lights almost always on in hospitals?"

His mother shifted again. "Kaito, that's not funny," she said, completely serious.

"Really Mom. Why aren't the lights on?" Kaito heard a choking sound next to him. With a start, he realized that his mother was crying. "Mom, what's wrong?"

"They... they said... but I was holding out for you, I knew you'd pull through for me..." his mother said between sobs.

Fear crept up upon Kaito. "Mom, what's wrong? What's wrong with me?"

"The doctor said you damaged part of your brain in the fall... the part that controls vision... They said they didn't know what would happen until you woke up. Oh Kaito..."

"Mom," Kaito said slowly, trying desperately to keep his voice even, "I can't see anything."

An arm reached across him and hugged him tight. Something wet landed on his cheek. Kaito shed Poker Face entirely and joined her. After all, he didn't need it anymore. One couldn't steal something if one couldn't even see where it was.

* * *

Saguru watched the door to the classroom expectedly. Only the most extreme accidents at heists led to Kaito missing school the next day. There was no doubt that any minute now he would walk through that door with Aoko, arguing as usual.

And even though Saguru found the noise that accompanied them trying, he would admit to himself that he needed that noise occasionally to reassure himself that Kuroba was still there. That the person he was convinced was his nemesis hadn't gone anywhere.

Which was why he found himself desperately worried when Aoko walked through the door alone. Aoko also looked worried, going and sitting down at her desk with a frown on her face. Saguru stood up and walked over. "Aoko-san, where's Kuroba?"

"I don't know," Aoko replied, sounding marginally frantic. "When he wasn't at our usual meeting place I stopped by his house to see if he was just running late. But there was no one there. Not him or his mother. I tried both of their phones, but neither picked up."

"How about we look for him together after school?" Saguru suggested, trying not to sound too interested.

Aoko glared, catching on anyway. "You just want to find out where he is because Kaito Kid was shot out of the sky last night, don't you? Why won't you just leave him alone? He's not Kid. I'm sure he and his mother are just out somewhere together."

Aoko turned away from him, and Saguru recognized the conversation as over. He walked back over to his desk and slid into his seat, wondering where Kuroba really was.

The day passed remarkably quietly thanks to Kuroba's absence. At the end of it Saguru grabbed his things and caught up to Aoko at the door. "Since Kuroba is not here, may I have the pleasure of walking you home?"

Aoko stared at him exasperatedly. "Fine. But don't you dare start on about Kaito."

Saguru found that he didn't need to. Halfway to Aoko's house, her cellphone rang. Aoko paused, answering it. "Nakamori Aoko speaking... Ah, Kuroba-san! Where was Kaito today?... Well yeah, of course I was. Where is he?..." Aoko turned away, but not before Saguru could see the shock on her face. "He what? Kuroba-san, he what?... Okay. I'm on my way. See you soon Kuroba-san." Aoko quietly slipped the phone back into her pocket and turned back to Saguru. "Kaito's in the hospital!"

"What?" Saguru exclaimed. "Why?"

"Apparently he fell down the stairs last night," Aoko said, worried. "His mother wouldn't tell me why he's in the hospital otherwise though. I'm going over there right now."

Saguru nodded. "Good idea. I'll come with you."

Aoko passed a silent warning to Saguru concerning mentioning Kaito Kid. Saguru nodded again, indicating that he'd gotten the message. Saguru pulled out his own phone and called the taxi company. Within five minutes the two of them were in the back of a taxi on their way to the hospital.

They arrived there quickly and Aoko walked over to the front desk while Saguru looked around. She quickly rejoined him with a room number and together they walked to the elevators. Saguru could sense Aoko getting tenser as they got closer. Undoubtedly she was coming up with worst-case scenarios. Saguru was having problems not coming up with his own.

As they approached the room, they saw that the door was open and could hear voices coming from it. "Mom, I told you not to call her!" Kaito nearly yelled.

"It's too late now Kaito, she's already on her way! She's worried about you!"

"Mom, I don't want her here," Kaito pleaded. Saguru was surprised. He'd never heard that tone of voice from Kaito before.

By that time they had reached the door. "Well tell your manly pride to go take a hike," Aoko said forcefully, hands on her hips. "Just because you fell down the stairs is no reason to keep me in the dark! I've been worried all day!"

Saguru was surprised when Kaito didn't react to his presence. "Aoko, there's really no reason to be worried. Now go away."

"You're friendly."

"Kaito!" his mother scolded. "Aoko's worried and she has a good reason to be! Surely you don't think you'd be able to get away with keeping her out of the loop for long!"

Saguru observed that Kaito's mother had been crying recently, and she was definitely ragged at the edges. His eyes moved to Kaito and saw that the other boy was just staring at the ceiling, not looking at anyone. "Kuroba-"

Kaito interrupted him with a squawk. "What's he doing here? Aoko, why the hell did you have to bring Hakuba?"

"Don't tell me you didn't notice him!" Aoko shouted back. "He's been standing here the whole time! And he's here because he's worried about you too! Jeez Kaito, why do you have to keep these things from us?"

Saguru bit his lip. "Aoko-san, I think Kuroba is still keeping something from us."

"Hakuba-kun, don't be silly."

"No really." Saguru walked over to Kaito and started waving his hand in front of his face. "Why isn't he stopping me?"

"Hakuba-kun, stop it," Kaito's mother said quietly. "That's not fair."

"What is Hakuba doing that should be annoying me?"

"He's... he's waving his hand in front of your face," Aoko said slowly. "Kaito, what's wrong?"

Saguru took note of the bandage on Kaito's head. "Was it the occipital lobe?"

Kaito groped with his hand and grabbed Saguru's wrist, stopping him. "Don't remember what it's called," he said bitterly. "But yeah, you've got the right idea. And now I'm going to let go and you're never going to do that again."

"Okay." Kaito released Saguru's hand from his grip.

Aoko moved forward and grabbed Kaito's hand. "Kaito, what wrong?" she asked slowly, begging for him to confide in her. "Kaito, tell me what's wrong. Damn it Kaito, look at me and tell me what's wrong!"

"I can't," Kaito said quietly, choking slightly on the words. Saguru backed towards the door and gestured for Kaito's mother to follow. She nodded, understanding. They left the room together, shutting the door behind them, just as Aoko started to cry.

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**Bonus points to anyone who caught the Poe reference. It's not that hard if you know where to look. Reviews are love.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Magic Kaito**

**Yay, oh boy. Things are starting to pick up.**

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In just a few minutes time, Saguru would be very happy that it was the middle of winter and thus he was wearing a hat. He currently stood in a telephone booth, dialing the long since memorized number of the police station. It picked up quickly, as if they were expecting him. Which, he supposed, they probably were. That shopping center murder had been rather well publicized. _"Hello, Montreal Police Department, how may I help you?"_

"I'm calling on behalf of the murder at Oakland Shopping Center yesterday," Saguru said, trying to sound as old man-like as he could. He was nowhere near as good as Kaito, but he could change his voice a little.

There was a pause, the man on the other end undoubtedly alerting someone nearby to start up a tracer. _"I see. Would you like to know the facts?"_

"No, I've gathered all I need from the papers. Clearly it was the shift manager who killed the cashier. He has a connection with the mugger, does he not? He probably called the mugger there on purpose to make him take the blame in an armed robbery gone sour. How he got the mugger to pull an armed robbery I don't know, maybe blackmail is in play. But it doesn't take much digging to discover that the cashier was a prime suspect in an unsolved rape-murder case from several years ago where the victim was the shift manager's younger sister, and that the shift manager himself recently transferred from a separate branch. He walked over when the mugger pulled the gun on the cashier, and then when the lights went out he grabbed the gun from the shocked mugger, shot at the place the clerk had been in four times to make sure he'd gotten him, and then wiped his prints and tossed the gun aside. He probably got the lights to go off with some sort of device or timer, something a mugger who had never been to the store before, let alone within the month, would be able to do. The shift manager's got the motive and the ability; he's the one you want to take into custody."

There was no noise for a few moments; the man on the other end clearly scribbling down everything Saguru had said. _"Thank you very much. We knew about the rape-murder case, but we didn't think it was relevant so we didn't dive too deeply. I hope you know how much the Montreal Police Department appreciates your help."_

Saguru smirked. "Of course I do. It's kind of hard to miss the radio speeches. I really wish you wouldn't though, I'd prefer to remain anonymous."

_"Well either way we've got a few more current unsolved cases. Would you like to hear the facts in those cases?"_

Saguru laughed, then became serious. "I know exactly what you're trying to do. You're trying to keep me here so that someone can come pick me up. Sorry, not going to happen. Really, you boys are chasing me like a common criminal even though I'm helping you."

_"You hit the nail right on the head,"_ the officer said, and Saguru, despite the warnings of his mind, stayed on the line. _"It seems a higher-up or two has gotten it into his head that you're actually a criminal who wants to atone for something you've done but avoid going to prison, or something like that. Most of us don't think you've done anything wrong, but that higher-up or two wants to know for certain."_

"Haven't they ever heard the saying, 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'?" Saguru asked. He glanced around, wondering if he had time to milk some more information from the talkative man on the other end. He froze as he saw a cop car speed around a far off corner. "Your buddies are here so I'll be going now," he said nonchalantly, though inside he was panicking. He threw the phone back onto the hook and fled from the booth.

It was too late. The passenger side window rolled down and an officer with a loudspeaker poked his head out. "This is the police!" the loudspeaker bellowed. "Please do not run!"

Saguru swore under his breath and pulled his hat down low as he ran. But he was running, and the cops were in a vehicle. He had no chance unless he ducked down an alley that was either too skinny or too cluttered for them to go through. If he remembered right, the one next to that second-hand bookstore should fit the bill.

He made a quick turn into the alley and glanced back over his shoulder as the car went speeding past. This turned out to be a mistake as his eyes briefly met with one of the cops. He increased his speed down the alleyway, and didn't stop running until he'd made it back to the apartment.

* * *

Meanwhile, the local police department was practically in shambles. Photocopies of a drawing done by an officer were being passed around like wildfire, some officers saying that something about it looked vaguely familiar, others claiming that they had never seen this person before. A few higher-ups were debating hotly over whether the drawing should be released to the papers or not. While it might help to find out who exactly that person was, it might also scare them away if the chase earlier hadn't already. Or a third option, it might be a disguise and wouldn't actually help at all. One of the telephone operators said that he sounded older than the person in the drawing, and one of the junior officers who had said that the drawing looked familiar brought up a Japanese thief, Kaito Kid, to prove that it was possible for it to be a disguise.

Any way, the office gossip for the next few days centered on one very specific topic.

* * *

Kaito's hand found the pause button on the CD player before he said anything. "What do you want, Hakuba?" he asked, a tiny bit angrily. "Shouldn't you be out making sure justice prevails or something?"

Hakuba sat down on the couch opposite the one Kaito was lying on. "Well yes, I suppose so. Except I'm getting the niggling feeling that there's an injustice right in front of me that I've been completely ignoring."

"Hakuba, you've been hinting at that for a week," Kaito pointed out exasperatedly. "Either get to the point or shut up."

"Kaito Kid," Saguru said simply.

With a groan, Kaito pulled the throw pillow out from under his head and started trying to smother himself with it. "If you do not have a _very_ good reason for bringing that thief up, I will bodily escort you from my house of my own accord. I will."

And Saguru had no doubt that Kaito would not let such a little thing as being blind stop him from doing that, so he quickly elaborated. "Kaito Kid once challenged me to find out for myself why he stole. Now under any circumstances vanishing off the face of the earth for eight years and then just as mysteriously showing up again seems a pretty good place to start. So I did, working under the theory that the Kid in action now is not the one that first debuted, which meant checking obituaries. Of course that's a rather lot of people, so I preemptively narrowed it down a little. Considering how Kid answered my question when I asked him why he did it, I highly doubt he does it just for the hell of it. So I eliminated those that had died of natural causes. He was also very rarely active outside of Japan, so I limited my search to here. And of course I eliminated those that were either too old, too young, or handicapped in some way or another. So I was left with a rather short list of people who were of the right age, resided in Japan, and had died in some sort of accident within a few months after the first Kid's last heist. And among those people, one of them was a practicing magician. You knew him intimately, Kuroba." What Saguru wasn't going to mention was that he'd really just kept going on the assumption that Kaito was Kid and had in fact started right with Kuroba Toichi. And he fit like a glove.

Kaito snorted. "Yeah? And what does my dad have to do with any of this?"

So, he was still going to be tough about it. "I checked the dates; every single one. Whenever there was a heist outside of the country, your father was doing a show in the very same city. Whenever the heist was in the country, your father was not traveling somewhere for a show. Nor was he in the hospital for any of the heists. Hell, there was even a heist scheduled for the day you were born that Kaito Kid never showed up for."

"What does that prove?" Kaito grumbled, though Saguru had little doubt that he was panicking inside.

Saguru's voice grew soft. "The final two dates are within two weeks of each other. And explosions certainly leave very little evidence."

A familiar smirk slowly grew across Kaito's face, probably one of the more bizarre signs of surrender that Saguru had ever come across. "I didn't know you were one to kick a dog when he's down, Tantei-san."

"I'm not here to kick him," Saguru insisted. "I'm here to feed him, if he'll accept it."

That certainly got Kaito's attention. "What?"

"I said that I'm here to feed him. Help get the starving mongrel back on his feet."

"Hakuba, what the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm a detective. I right injustices. I've found an injustice. I intend to right it."

"How exactly do you plan on going about that?"

"I'm going to find out who killed your father."

Kaito started laughing so hard he nearly rolled off the couch. "And you think it's going to be that easy!" he snorted. He only spoke again once he had gotten his breathing under control. Suddenly serious, he rolled up his sleeve. "Around here," he said, pointing roughly at a scar across his upper arm. His hand moved a little higher, further than the sleeve would roll. "Here-ish too." The sleeve was dropped and the hem of the shirt pulled up slightly to reveal another scar. "And here. There are a few others that we'll not get into right now." Finally his hand went to the back of his head. "And here. It wasn't outright, but they started the chain reaction."

"Which is precisely why I need to do something about this," Saguru replied. "You can't possibly be content to just sit there and do nothing."

"You forget, Tantei-san, that I _was_ doing something. At least until they knocked me out of the game, permanently. Besides, I already know who killed him."

Saguru leaned forward. "Really? Who?"

Kaito acted exasperated, raising a finger to his lips and making a tutting noise. "No. I'm not telling you."

"But certainly you want to see him behind bars, don't you?"

"Which is precisely why I'm not telling you. Right now the only thing standing between you and him is your lack of knowledge as to who he is. And I am _not_ sending you into the line of fire. Even if you manage to capture him, he's still got many goons, as well as a man behind him. Any one of them could decide that you're worth taking out. Therefore, I will not tell you. Besides, I don't even know his real name, just what he goes by."

Saguru continued to try and find out more information, but ended up leaving shortly later, dejected. The next day however he was back. "Shiny gemstones," he started out with.

"Yeah?" Kaito asked, pausing the CD player again. "What about them?"

"There is method to the madness. The apparent method is shiny gemstones. Why?"

"Maybe they're convenient."

"You stole a statue that was twice as large as you," Saguru deadpanned. "Or at least you tried to, before I chained it to the ground. And then there was that insane debacle involving a clock tower that I'm almost glad I missed. Clearly convenience isn't an issue. Shiny gemstones. Why?"

"It's your job to find out the answer, isn't it?"

Saguru growled, running his hand through his hair. "We've been over this before. I'm trying to help. Shiny gemstones. Why?" he repeated.

Kaito paused. "You're really not going to give up on this, are you?" he finally asked quietly.

"Have I showed any reason that I would?"

"You really want to help," Kaito said, almost as if it had just dawned on him.

Saguru plopped down on the couch. "Yeah. You're just figuring that out?"

Kaito groaned. "Fine. You of all people deserve it, I suppose."

Half an hour later Saguru's mind was blown, as well as a little disbelief. And there was a plan forming in the back of his mind. A very insane plan that he couldn't believe he was even thinking about contemplating, but a plan nonetheless. And, well, Kaito had managed to impress upon him the danger of going after whoever it was that had been shooting at him. So, therefore...

Saguru got very little sleep that night.

* * *

Inspector Nakamori had a headache. A very bizarre headache. Or to be more specific, the cause of the headache was bizarre. It wasn't that it wouldn't normally cause a headache, it was just that what had just happened was so very incredibly bizarre.

As it was, he was currently staring at an empty display case. An empty display case that was supposed to contain a ruby. An empty display case that wasn't quite empty, because it contained a piece of paper. A piece of paper which was not blank. A piece of paper that for all accounts and purposes was a genuine Kid heist note. Except it wasn't a heist note. But it was almost definitely genuine. But it was bizarre, it was abnormal, it was, well, strange.

It went thusly:

_Dear Inspector Nakamori,_

_ I'm so very sorry I couldn't invite you to this party, but I'm feeling a bit under the weather at the moment. I just don't feel up to our usual acrobatics. So it may be a while before we actually meet again, but do keep an eye out for my work!_

_ Kaito Kid_

"Can someone please tell me what the _fuck_ is going on here?" Nakamori shouted, causing nearby officers to cower and cringe.

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**Reviews are love and highly appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Magic Kaito.**

**In which things pick up even more, and Yellowstone explodes. Not really.**

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Under his breath, Saguru cursed his bad luck. There had been a murder at the convenience store he worked at, and now several detectives and a bunch of hapless cops were swarming the place. And he already knew who did it. But he couldn't slip away to place a phone call because someone would undoubtedly see him, and even if they didn't someone who wasn't at the scene wouldn't know a thing that's going on, so that would narrow down their search considerably.

And... were they slapping the cuffs on the wrong guy? Yes they were. He couldn't stop his palm from meeting his forehead with an unfortunately loud thwack. Unfortunately because someone heard it, and saw that he was actually cringing. "Do you have a problem sir?" he asked, almost as if he was daring Saguru to have a problem.

Monique, another clerk who was standing next to him, looked at him funnily. "Do you have a headache, Samuel?"

Saguru made a split second decision. A split second decision that himself and Kaito would be chewing him out about for a long time to come, but a decision that really just needed to be made. Because he was a whole lot less innocent than the guy currently getting hauled away. Hand dropped back to the side, he stepped forward. "Yes officer, I do have a problem."

Bustle stopped. Detectives, officers, faux culprit, and culprit all turned to stare at him once he had stated that. One of the officers frowned slightly. "You look a little familiar. Have we met before?"

Saguru realized with a start that one, that was one of the officers that had been in the car chasing him, and two, he was completely screwed if he went through with this. It was a little late now though, so he barged on. He explained precisely how the evidence that appeared to point to one man really pointed to the other, the motive and method, and everything else that would be expected from a stellar detective. As he finished, he took a deep breath, "And that, my friends, pretty much sums it up."

The only noise was a pen falling out of the mouth of a detective with not enough hands. And, as Saguru had predicted, one of the officers suddenly pointed at him. "You! I remember! You were the guy I was chasing on Saturday!"

His buddy elbowed him. "Don't be daft, the only person you were chasing on Saturday was the telephone... detective..."

Aannd comprehension dawned. Saguru stared the officers and detectives down, daring them to make the accusation outright. Finally the man in charge of the investigation ordered one of the detectives to put the cuffs on the right man and walked up to Saguru, putting a hand on his shoulder. "If you'll just come downtown with us we have a few questions we'd like to ask you, Mr. Telephone Detective."

It was not an invitation.

* * *

"You did _what?_"

Thanks to Kaito's rather unorthodox position in the armchair, it managed to tumble over backwards. Kaito landed with a squawk and Saguru rushed over to right the chair. The look on Kaito's face had gone way too far past flabbergasted and taken a wrong turn at are-you-mad. "What part of 'staying not dead' do you not understand?"

"They were about to arrest the wrong guy," Saguru protested. "I couldn't help myself."

"And now you're expected to wander around in a police station solving crimes while at the same time happening to be on Tokyo's Most Wanted list." Kaito climbed back into the righted armchair from the floor.

"This is Montreal. Tokyo is practically on the other side of the world."

Kaito's hand shot out and grabbed the front of Saguru's shirt. He pulled him close. "As lack of a life as this is," he hissed, "I happen to prefer it to the alternative. Please explain to me why the hell we are not fleeing like rabbits."

Saguru pried open Kaito's fingers and plopped down on the couch. "Because at this point that would only make them more suspicious. If they got more suspicious they might send my photo around, at which point someone can and will recognize it. My M.O. will be made public, and we will be in even a worse bind than before. There will be nowhere to flee like rabbits to. Which is why we're staying."

"What if... what if..." Kaito argued dumbly, trying to come up with a situation.

Saguru ran his fingers through his hair. "Kaito, this whole mad existence is one big what if. To tell you the truth, I thought we'd be back in a jail cell eons ago. I mean, I haven't been doing the best job of keeping under the radar."

"It's okay," Kaito said quietly. "After everything else I've taken away from you, I wouldn't dare presume to touch this."

"It is my own fault and no one else's that I'm here with you," Saguru assured. "Don't ever blame yourself."

"So what happens now?" Kaito asked after a moment of silence.

"I quit my job at the store and turn consulting for the police into a full-time job."

"We are playing with so much fire here, I think Yellowstone just exploded."

Saguru smiled. "One, hypocrite, and two, I learned from the best."

* * *

To: Inspector Ginzo Nakamori, Tokyo MPD  
From: Officer Rene Rodier, SPV de Montreal

Subject: Kaito Kid

Hello,  
I am contacting you regarding a private detective who has recently started working with the Service de Police de la Ville de Montreal. I say recently, but he has actually been working with us for a few months now. We just did not know his identity or meet him in person until recently, because he would phone in his deductions and was insisting on remaining anonymous. Recently his identity was discovered and he has been working with us in person ever since.

As it is, I am finding this detective to be very suspicious. He does not say much about himself, although he apparently has a roommate as someone else has picked up his home phone on occasion. And even though we now know his identity, he still insists on remaining anonymous to the general public.

My suspicions peaked when I chanced across Interpol's file on the Japanese thief Kaito Kid. Attached is a photo of Samuel Harper, the private detective in question. You being the foremost expert on Kaito Kid, you should be able to tell whether this is the real deal or not. Please get back to me as soon as possible.

Rene Rodier, SPVM

* * *

At first Kaito had been very reluctant to implement any kind of plan at all, instead preferring to lie around all day cursing his ill luck. It wasn't until Saguru brought news of a high-profile jewel robbery that had seemingly been pulled off without a trace that he warmed even the tiniest bit to the idea. Even still Saguru had to work hard to wear him down.

Putting a third person in the suit was out of the question. No one else had the right amount of motive, skills, bravery, and insanity to pull it off. In fact it was so much out of the question that it had never even been suggested.

Kaito at first had suggested Saguru using his connections to legally check the jewels. Saguru was the one who ruled that out. That had too high a potential to attract unwanted attention, and more than that it would appear odd. Saguru felt slightly guilty about playing the potential to get hurt card against Kaito, but it was in the best interests of both of them.

At this point Kaito had demanded angrily of Saguru just what the hell was left. So Saguru suggested the bare makings of a plan, to a chorus of pillows thrown by a blind man completely missing the mark. They couldn't check them legally and they couldn't steal them as Kid... so why not steal them as someone else?

"You're mad," Kaito had said to that. Saguru said that it was because Kaito was finally wearing off on him.

Kaito had then asked Saguru sarcastically if he had any experience in making up phantom thief identities. Saguru pointed out that they didn't have to come up with a whole new thief, they just had to change Kid's M.O. a bit. After all, if they still used Kid's name then that would give the people who had shot at him before quite the headache trying to figure out how to stop him.

And so, slowly, a plan had formed.

* * *

Saguru took a deep breath. _Showtime._ He shook his head, thinking that he'd been spending far too much time around a certain thief lately than was healthy. In fact it was already having a large effect on him. He tapped twice on the small bug in his ear underneath the black ski mask. They'd tried, they really had, but it was hard to learn how to disguise oneself from someone who couldn't see. At least, a whole lot harder than learning everything else had been. "Preparing to descend," he hissed.

_"Be careful,"_ the reply came. _"There's no one to bail you out here. Improvisation is your friend. Above all, don't lose your cool."_

"You forget who you're talking to," Saguru said quietly. After a phone call of which neither end was heard by Saguru, he had been informed that Kaito's accomplice had declared the two of them to be nutters and wanted no part in it. Saguru was unsure whether the accomplice honestly thought they were nutters or was paranoid about working with a detective, but either way he had no help except for Kaito's guiding voice.

_"Move to radio silence except for emergencies."_

"Understood." Saguru glanced up and surveyed the high brick wall. The small black backpack was opened and right on the top as they had known he would need it was a rope and grappling hook. It was removed from the bag, which was then zipped back up and thrown back onto Saguru's back. Saguru again looked at the top of the wall, and weighed the hook in his hand. He threw. It clanged harmlessly off, a little lower than it should be. He took a deep breath, and threw again.

This time the hook latched onto the top of the wall. Saguru pulled to make sure it was secure, and started using the rope to climb the wall. Once at the top he surveyed his surroundings again. Ten feet to the left there was a tree very close to the wall. It would be good camouflage. He gathered up the rope and crawled along the top of the wall until he got to the tree. He stuck the grappling hook on the wall again, then jumped down into the grass. He tested the rope and ascertained that it would be good for a quick escape if necessary and if no one found it.

_Breaking, check. Now for the entering._ If he did this exactly as planned, then it should be a piece of cake. He brought to mind which window of the museum he needed to get in through. He almost smacked himself when he realized that it was around the back, and he was somewhere near the front. It was too late now though. He found himself glad of the bushes planted alongside the wall as he tried to quietly make his way to where he needed to be. He let out a deep breath when he safely made it to the window. Now for the hard part.

He tried the window, just in case. As expected though it was locked soundly. He started rummaging through the backpack and his hand finally reemerged with a small hand drill. He gulped. No turning back now. He raised the drill to the window and started. Soon he had a small hole, and through this hole was inserted a small, bent wire. He had visited the museum earlier of course to have a look around, and had noticed that this particular window had only a very simple latch. He smirked as he remembered the Lavender Mansion Remurder case and his own wrong deduction. If only Hattori Heiji could see him now.

He got the window open without much trouble and climbed in. He shut it behind himself and, staying in the shadows, crept down the darkened hallway. There was nothing of value here, just a corridor between exhibits. Between him and his goal was a large locked door, a large open space, and a small glass box, along with motion sensors in the large open space and video cameras in the corners. Oh, and the law.

Fifteen minutes later, the dictionary definitions of 'law' and 'justice' were running through Saguru's head as he escaped back over the brick wall, a large diamond that was decidedly not his in his backpack.

* * *

Dear Darling Inspector,

I really miss seeing you, but I am afraid it is entirely unavoidable. I'm sure you recall some incidences of gunfire at my precious heists. But I am the Kaito Kid, and no one gets hurt. Therefore in order to resolve this issue my heists are now private invitation only, and the only invitation is addressed to myself, Kaito Kid. I am truly sorry Inspector, but that is the way that the world works. We cannot always play with toys. So I suggest you go out and do some good. Put some criminals far more dangerous than I behind bars. Those whose knives and bullets are stained with the blood of the innocent. Now that I no longer announce my intentions ahead of time, we both know that you have no hope of catching me, social deviant that I am. But the innocent... they always need a white knight in shining armor, don't they? We both know that I can't lawfully be that knight. So forget about me as best you can and be that shining knight. Oh and don't worry, you'll get the Celestial Diamond back soon enough.

Kaito Kid.

* * *

**MWAHAHAHAHA anyway. No, Saguru's breaking into of the museum is not realistic. Mostly because I have no idea what being realistic would entail. Reviews are much appreciated as always.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own Magic Kaito.**

**In which Saguru has a bad day. A really bad day.**

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* * *

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Saguru listened to his instincts. He didn't always believe everything they told him, but he at least listened to what they had to say. And today they were telling him that Murphy, of Murphy's Law, had decided that he was his new best friend.

First the kitchen trash can had been getting full, so he'd had to empty it. While taking away the bag, he had left the trash can in the middle of the kitchen floor. Kaito, not knowing it was there, had tripped over it. And when Kaito tripped, he _tripped_. So Saguru had reentered the kitchenette to find milk and Cheerios in every possible place, and a few that weren't.

Then it turned out that Kaito either wasn't having a good day or really needed more coffee, because then he tried the leave the kitchen only to run smack into the edge of the door. Grunting and clutching his nose, he stumbled backwards, a hand outstretched to prevent more running into things. That hand met the edge of the dish drainer that happened to jut out just slightly over the edge of the counter. Thinking it was solid, Kaito leaned on it. It wasn't. The dish drainer flipped up, emptying itself of its contents. Fortunately that was only a few knives, not exactly breakable, but they also weren't mere butter knives. Saguru, kneeling on the ground to mop up the Cheerios, barely missed being impaled by the flying cutlery. Then the drainer smacked him in the face.

Half an hour later Saguru had managed to exit the apartment after making sure that Kaito was deposited safely in the armchair and with a pot-sized cup of coffee. While crossing the street to get to the bus stop he was nearly hit by a high-speed chase; ironically enough, it was the car being chased that swerved around him and the police car chasing it that nearly hit him. He was still grumbling about it when he reached the bus stop, at which point his grumbles started to concern the lack of bus shelter to protect him from the sleet falling from the sky. And then the bus was running late, so he was standing in the sleet for an extra five minutes.

When the bus finally arrived, the only empty seat was between a woman with a screaming baby and a man with a bad cough. He was immensely glad to exit it when he did, and started trudging towards the police station in a hunch. Then a large truck sped by and absolutely doused him. At that point he decided that his day could not possibly get worse, and merely sighed. He got many sympathetic looks as he shook off his coat right inside the door of the police station, creating a relatively large puddle.

But it seemed Murphy was not quite done yet. First Saguru's lunch vanished mysteriously around mid-morning. Later as Saguru was heading out to buy something to eat, two cops were bringing in a struggling criminal, who managed to get out of their grasp. Saguru managed to bring him down, but not before the criminal put a nice sized gash on the back of his hand with a fountain pen.

For lunch, Saguru found a cafe that was serving hot soup. It was good up until the point the soup arrived, which had something inherently wrong with it. He was more than mildly surprised when nothing bad happened on the the way back to the station. In hindsight, he should have realized that Murphy was just saving his energy for the grand finale.

It happened while Saguru was talking to an officer about some cold cases. He had just been handed a file on one, and was laughing at a joke the officer made, when he felt eyes on the back of his head. Eyes boring into him in a way that few eyes had ever done before. And he knew, instinctively, that he didn't want to know who the eyes belonged to.

* * *

Inspector Nakamori Ginzo wondered, yet again, what he was doing here. Why he had dropped everything and come running just because of a photograph. He sighed to himself, thinking about precisely why that photograph had brought him there.

It had been almost three years. Almost three years since that night. And then, seeing that face again... he could've sworn his heart had stopped.

And so, the photograph had called him. And here he was, in Montreal, chasing a ghost that was becoming more real with each passing minute. But why? Wasn't the knowledge that he was still alive enough? Why was he going this far to track him down? He was technically a criminal, yes. But he was not your average criminal. And Ginzo knew that he hadn't a truly criminal bone in his body. So why?

That was the question, but it was also the answer, wasn't it? Why had he stolen? Why had either of them stolen? Why had two boys who had seemed so willing to atone for their vaguely criminal crimes simply vanished one night without a trace? Simply the answer to all those whys, that was why Ginzo was there.

And there he was, that blond head. As Ginzo watched he stiffened. The file in his hand started to shake minisculy, and he quickly excused himself from the conversation he was in. And then that blond head turned, eyes wide, and Ginzo stared at the scared face of Hakuba Saguru, the subject of all his whys.

* * *

Saguru yawned, glancing through the newspaper before class started. His perusal was interrupted by stomping footsteps followed by a schoolbag being slammed down onto the desk behind him. He glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, good morning Aoko-san."

"'Morning," Aoko grumbled, clearly put out about something.

"What's wrong?"

"_Kaito Kid!_" came the bellowed response. Saguru winced. "He's stolen something again! And since he's not announcing things anymore Dad doesn't know how he's going to catch him. Kid's stolen 13 jewels without anyone being any the wiser and Dad's really stressed out and _uuggghhh! Stupid thief!_"

Ah. That. He should have known. "Perhaps it's for the better. It means that your father can concentrate on criminals that don't give back what they take."

"But Kaito Kid is a criminal too! Just because what he does is less criminal than what some other criminals do doesn't make him any less of a criminal! Mou, Hakuba-kun, you're starting to sound more like Kaito every day."

Saguru smirked. "So, are you two dating yet?"

"See? That's exactly what Kaito would... _Hakuba-kun!_" Aoko bellowed, too angry to be very fast on the uptake.

Yes, Saguru agreed to himself, a certain someone was rubbing off too much on him. He laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them. "In all seriousness though," he said softly, "You two really should stop dancing around each other."

"What're you... I'm not... I don't like Kaito that way!" Aoko finally managed to finish.

Saguru raised an eyebrow. "Really? He certainly likes you that way. It's quite obvious. Although, if you want anything to ever come of it, I'm pretty sure you'll have to be the one to make the first move."

"Yeah, whatever," Aoko dismissed. She leaned forward. "What are you looking at?"

Saguru showed her the newspaper. "Ever since getting something stolen by Kaito Kid stopped being the publicity stunt it used to be, there aren't as many exhibits coming specifically to Tokyo anymore. This one particularly caught my eye. Emerald of Tears, supposedly cursed hence the name. It seems as likely as anything..." he slowly drifted off, then started again. "Well, it seems like the kind of thing that Kaito Kid would go after."

Aoko nodded. "Yes," she answered distractedly.

Saguru frowned internally. "But Kaito Kid's starting to be old news now that the shows are done. So how are you doing other than that?" he asked, changing the subject.

* * *

Aoko paused as she walked home and looked out over the river. She could see the glitter of the water in the sun, some birds flying overhead. She closed her eyes. The gentle rushing of water, the rustling of the wind in the trees. All sounds. She took in a deep breath, and smelled the early flowers of spring. Kaito had fallen down the stairs. He couldn't see anymore. Now all he had was sound and smell.

But... that thought led to other, darker thoughts. Kaito never fell down the stairs. Even if he did trip, he always caught himself. And besides, could falling down the stairs really have that much of an impact? And there was the matter of timing... it was perfect, too perfect.

Aoko shook her head to rid herself of her thoughts. Of course not. It couldn't be. Kaito would never do something like that. And even if he would, who's Kid now? There was such a thing as coincidence.

There had been an awful lot of coincidences though. And Hakuba-kun... he'd been acting strange recently. Hanging out with Kaito a lot more than he had before. Being secretive, no longer talking about Kaito Kid as much. And then that conversation in class today... he had sounded interested in that emerald, and more than just from a 'will Kid steal this?' standpoint.

Aoko smiled wryly. She was just being silly. Jumping at ghosts. But it had given her an idea. She pulled out her cellphone and punched in her dad's number. It picked up quickly. "_Hello, Inspector Nakamori Ginzo speaking._"

"Hi Dad!" Aoko greeted.

"_Oh, Aoko. What's up?_"

"Oh, I just had this idea. Now that Kaito Kid's not announcing anything, there's no place to start. But since fewer people are specifically exhibiting their valuables here in Tokyo now, the possibilities are more limited. So if every night you stake out a potential target, you might eventually get lucky!"

She could practically hear her father grin on the other end of the line. "_You're right Aoko, it's certainly better than sitting here and doing nothing! It's a great idea! We'll have to keep it a secret though, he might not come if he thinks he's got company. And we can't just bounce around every night, we'll have to pick a jewel and stay until it's no longer displayed..._"

Aoko smiled as her father started rambling his plans as he came up with them. "And I have a great idea as to the first jewel to stake out!"

"_Really? Which one?_"

"The Emerald of Tears, in the Okuda Museum. It's rumored to be cursed, and Kaito Kid certainly likes jewels with interesting pasts like that. What do you think?"

"_Aoko, you're my little genius._" her father praised.

They quickly ended the conversation, as Ginzo had to get right on to planning. Aoko stared at her phone for a long time before she finally put it away. _Please Dad... please catch him and prove that it's not Kaito or Hakuba-kun and that I really am just jumping at shadows._

_

* * *

_**Up Next: Things come to a head. Reviews please!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Magic Kaito**

**Surprisingly enough, we're almost done here. Second to last chapter.**

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* * *

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Saguru's chest was tightening; he knew he had to get out of there. No matter the consequences, he needed to leave the building, the town, the province... get as far away as possible as quickly as humanly possible.

He quickly turned away from Inspector Nakamori, pretending he hadn't seen him. He tossed the folder onto the empty, unused desk that he'd commandeered for his own personal use and walked quickly and purposely through the back door. And he'd almost escaped out through the back alley and into the bustle of Montreal when he was stopped, not by a person, but by a word.

"Why?" the Inspector asked.

Slowly, Saguru turned around. "Why what?"

"Damn it Hakuba-kun!" Inspector Nakamori growled. "Why any number of things, but the one thing that's at the front of my mind at the moment is why you, who understands both right and wrong and cause and effect so well, decided to bypass both entirely, leaving me with nothing but an empty jail cell! An empty jail cell, a crying daughter, and not even a note to comfort her." The flame left his speech once he brought up Aoko, but the anger was still there, simmering softly in the background all the while. "Damn it Hakuba-kun why?"

"Because someone taught me that justice and the law are not mutually exclusive," Saguru said coldly. "I didn't abandon cause and effect as you say I did. There was merely another cause and another effect which you remain blissfully unaware of, and I intend to keep it that way."

"And why's that?"

Saguru smiled softly, unfreezing just a tiny bit. "Because it's not my story to tell. And he wouldn't tell it, and I'm adhering to his wishes. Because there is one urge, one instinct that takes precedence over all other instincts."

"What the hell are you on about?"

Saguru's smile died where it stood. "The urge to stay alive, to remain a living, breathing body. I rather like my body that way and, given the choice, I'm sure you do too. It's for your own safety Inspector that we refused to tell you, and it's for our safety that we're on the run. Please understand, and please don't come after us again."

His words froze the Inspector to the spot. Saguru recognized a good chance when he saw one, and fled the scene.

* * *

The thing about city buses though is that they're slow. They're faster than walking certainly, but they keep starting and stopping again and driving in your own car is generally much faster. It was for this very reason that Inspector Nakamori and Officer Rodier, the only other person who had even an inkling of what was going on, arrived at the apartment far before Saguru. Officer Rodier stood respectfully off to the side, shifting slightly, while the Inspector rapped hesitantly on the door.

_"Who is it?"_ came floating through the wood.

"Kaito-kun, please open the door," Inspector Nakamori said softly, but forcefully enough that Kaito could hear it. "I only want to talk."

There was the sound of someone moving, and some soft cursing. The fumbling of the lock, and then the door opened to reveal Kuroba Kaito in all his glory. The corner of his mouth twitched. "Talk, huh? Is that the polite way of saying 'the gig's up'?"

"Can we come in?" Inspector Nakamori asked.

"Who's with you?"

"Officer Rodier, the man who emailed me Hakuba-kun's photo."

Kaito chuckled without mirth as he vacated the doorway in favor of making his slow way back to the armchair. "It's not like I can stop you. Are there more men on the way or did you figure that you just needed one to take in a blind man, no matter who he used to be?"

The Inspector stepped inside and Rodier followed, shutting the door behind him. "I'm sure that if you really wanted to you could still pull off some of the miracle escapes I've seen you do before."

Kaito shook his head as he deposited himself back in the armchair. "You may be sure, but I'm not. I've lost all that now, thanks to that bastard. Sit down by the way if you haven't already."

The Inspector sat down on the couch, but Rodier stayed by the door. "Which bastard?" he asked simply.

Kaito started. "I'm sorry?"

"Which bastard?" the Inspector repeated. "Hakuba-kun wouldn't tell me because he said it wasn't his story to tell. It must be yours then, isn't it? Which bastard?"

Kaito steepled his fingers. "Inspector Nakamori, when it comes to catching criminals you are like a dog with a bone. I should know, I was on the wrong side of that drive many times. And if I tell you why, that selfsame drive that I so admired in you when I was young can and will lead you to your death. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to tell you."

Inspector Nakamori smirked. "You may act like the years have matured you, but inside you're still the immature magician thief I used to know. You're being stupidly stubborn. It sounds like you were up against someone far worse than yourself. If you would just tell me what was going on I can mobilize the Tokyo police and maybe we can get your pardon if we do it right."

"Inspector," Kaito said, chasing from Ginzo's mind any thoughts on what he was going to say next with his level of seriousness, "I have nothing left to lose but my life. Any attempts to regain what I once had will only result in me losing even that."

"Why did you escape when you seemed so willing to stay put?" Ginzo finally asked what he had wanted to since he had stepped through the door.

Kaito closed his useless eyes, a sad look on his face. "Like I said. I have nothing left to lose but my life, and I'd like to avoid losing that as well."

Before either of them could say any more the door to the apartment flew open. Saguru was panting from his sprint from the bus stop. "Kaito! We've got to..." He trailed off, seeing who else was in the room. "I see we've got company," he said sardonically.

Rodier, being firmly ingrained with the sense of justice and law as all good little police officers should be, grabbed Saguru's arm in an iron grip. Nakamori waved it off. "Officer, let him go. He's not going anywhere."

Rodier let go, despite a niggling wonder in the back of his mind as to exactly why he was taking orders from the Japanese inspector. Saguru shut the door a lot more calmly than he had opened it. "Well," he said after a pause, "The lack of handcuffs is certainly interesting."

Nakamori motioned for Saguru to sit down on the couch as well. He did. Then the Inspector spoke. "Clearly you two are running from someone who would just as soon kill you as look at you. Arresting you two would only be advertising your whereabouts to this person. Now then. Convince me to leave without notifying anyone else."

"I'm sorry?" Saguru asked, starting.

"Inspector..." Rodier trailed off, clearly having some sort of deep moral conflict.

"All right," Kaito said, startling everyone else. "On one condition: you have to promise that you will never, ever look into this. That goes for both of you," he added, eying both Nakamori and Rodier. "No matter how much your instincts scream about justice, you must not go after these men. They are dangerous and deadly."

"I can't promise that," the Inspector replied after a short wait. "I cannot just sit idle while someone threatens those close to me."

Kaito smiled sadly. "Yes you can. You can if you want to hear the story."

Finally Rodier spoke up. "Inspector Nakamori, you'll forgive me for saying that I'm just a little bit over my head here and I have no idea what is going on."

"I don't either," Ginzo replied. "That's why the handcuffs aren't flashing. I arrested these two boys and they wouldn't say a word. They were repentant, but they wouldn't say a word. And then they were gone. I would like to know why, and I would like to know whether I may or may not be condemning them to death by arresting them a second time." He stared straight at Kaito even though the boy – no, man, he was a man now – couldn't see him. "Kaito-kun, if you don't help me to understand, then I will have no choice."

"It's your choice," Saguru said slowly. "I will abide by your wishes."

Kaito was quiet for a very long time. Then finally he spoke. "I have no right to steal a life not belonging to myself. Not telling you would not only lead to my death, but Saguru's as well. I will tell you the truth. But please Inspector," he pleaded, "At least consider not pursuing the true criminals here."

"Impress me," Nakamori replied. "If I come across something blatantly obvious then I will not be able to help myself. But I will be able to keep it in the further reaches of my mind unless such a thing happens."

"Listen closely then," Kaito said. "I'll only say it once."

* * *

Saguru slunk down the vent. Reaching the grille at the end, he quickly managed to pop it off. He stared across the ceiling to the chandelier in the middle of it, hanging high above the floor below. He pulled out a small grappling gun from his bag and shot it cleanly through the hoop that the chandelier was hanging from. Pulling it tight, he quickly tied the other end to a hook on a very strong magnet he had attached to the inside of the vent. Satisfied with his handiwork, he used the rope to climb over above the target of the night halfway between the vent and the chandelier. He attached the end of a rappelling cord to the rope and, pressing a button, slowly descended to the glass box. He pressed the button again when he was within reach and pulled out his lockpicks.

That was when things went haywire.

The lights in the room suddenly flashed on, completely illuminating the place. From behind an exhibit Inspector Nakamori of all people burst up and pointed an angry finger at Saguru. "Get him boys!" A veritable horde of policemen popped up from behind all of the other exhibits shouting and charging. Panicking, Saguru dropped his lockpicks and pressed the button to start rappelling back up with all due haste. But it wasn't quite fast enough and one of the officers managed to grab onto his foot just as he was getting out of reach. Another two officers grabbed onto the first, and while the magnet had been strong enough for Saguru it wasn't strong enough for another three men on top of that. It slipped out of the vent and the four of them came tumbling down painfully onto the display, which thankfully didn't break. Saguru hit his head against the edge of it and found himself too dazed to struggle much as he was flipped on his front and his wrists handcuffed roughly behind his back.

Saguru blinked repeatedly to get the stars out of his eyes as Nakamori strode forward, clearly proud of his achievement. "You're not Kaito Kid," he said simply. "There's no way you're Kaito Kid, getting caught like that. You certainly had us bamboozled, but you're not Kaito Kid. And now we'll find out who you really are!" He knelt down and with a single flourish pulled the black ski mask off.

Then the ski mask slipped through limp fingers. "Hakuba-kun?" And Saguru thought that perhaps the man sounded a little lost.

* * *

The flashing lights of the waiting police cars did nothing to quell anyone's roiling stomachs. They'd all worked with Hakuba-kun before, thought they'd known Hakuba-kun. Something, clearly something, had happened. Why else would someone like Hakuba-kun do this, unless they didn't know him as well as they thought they had?

Inspector Nakamori looked and felt slightly green as he waited with baited breath the reports of the officers he had sent out to search the rest of the museum and the surrounding area. He could not avert his eyes in the way that one could not avert their eyes from a horrific train wreck as two officers led Hakuba-kun to one of the cars. Just before he got in Hakuba-kun looked straight at Nakamori, and he felt as though he was staring straight into the older man's soul. Then eye contact was broken as the officers gingerly shoved him in, clearly not quite believing they were actually doing this.

His radio buzzed. "_Sir, we've found a suspicious van parked in an alley. It appears to be uninhabited. Should we take a closer look?_"

Inspector Nakamori nodded before he remembered that the officer talking couldn't see him. "Yeah. Yeah, take a look. If you can get inside see what's there."

"_Roger._" There was silence as the officers conducted their search. Then the radio crackled again. There was a pause. "_Sir?_"

Inspector Nakamori closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew that whatever was going to come, it was not going to be good news. "Go ahead, officer."

"_The van... it's definitely relevant._"

"We'll have to take it in then."

_"But that's not all sir... The van... it's not uninhabited._"

"Spit it out officer. It's been a tough night, and I'd like to get it over with as quickly as possible."

"_We've got Kuroba Kaito here sir. He's been acting as Hakuba-kun's accomplice sir._"

All the deep breaths in the world could not help the poor Inspector now. "Is this definite?" he asked quietly.

"_It seems so sir. He's got radio equipment here, and incriminating evidence. As impossible as it seems, it seems to be true._"

"Is he saying anything?"

"_No sir, he won't answer our questions._"

"Does he know that we've caught Hakuba-kun?"

There was silence, undoubtedly the officer telling Kaito-kun of Hakuba-kun's arrest. "_He does now sir,_" finally came across. The officer's next words chilled Nakamori to the bone. "_He said that he told the detective it was a stupid plan._"

The Inspector thought long and hard, when really he shouldn't have had to think at all. "Bring him in," he finally said. "Him and the van."

And the only thing that the poor Inspector could think of was: what was he going to tell Aoko?

* * *

**Oh Aoko, what have you done? Reviews please!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Don't own Magic Kaito**

**Here's the end. Not entirely pleased with it, I feel like it could be better if I rearranged it, but I want to keep to the same pattern so I didn't. And since I wanted to keep to the same pattern the last section exists, even though I'm not sure it should. Anyway, been fun. Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

Kaito said his final words and then leaned back in the chair, weaving his fingers together. Inspector Nakamori finally knew the truth. It was up to him what he did with it.

Nakamori took a deep breath. He looked to Rodier, who had stayed put near the door the entire time. "Officer of the SPVM. What say you?"

Officer Rodier was startled. His opinion was being asked when he clearly had nothing to do with all of this? "Honestly Inspector, I don't know. Your orders and wishes hold no sway with me, and I am dutifully obligated to turn criminals in. However, I think I understand that there is a sliding scale in place here. If Mr. Hakuba and Mr. Kuroba break no more laws, then I am perfectly content to let them be. However, I will follow your lead Inspector Nakamori."

"Is this other than illegal immigration?" Kaito quipped dryly. Saguru shushed him.

"In that case," Ginzo said as he turned back to Kaito and Saguru. "I will keep this information in the back of my mind. I will not pursue it outright, but if something is blatant and I believe I can get away with it, I will attempt to arrest your father's murderer, Kaito-kun. And if such a thing happens I will get in touch with you through Officer Rodier if that's all right with you?" he asked. Rodier nodded his consent. Inspector Nakamori stood. "In which case I take my leave of you."

"Wait. You're not going to arrest us?" Saguru asked.

"Hakuba-kun," Ginzo said softly, smiling. "Why would I arrest a detective with a sense of justice so firmly ingrained as yours?"

Saguru returned the smile. "Thank you Inspector."

Inspector Nakamori suddenly pointed a finger at him. "Now don't you make me regret it," he joked. "Officer Rodier, you are to let me know if either of these punks step out of line again!"

"Sir!" Rodier saluted with a grin. He then turned to Saguru. "If anyone asks when I get back to the precinct, you had to go home early with a stomach bug."

"I'll keep that in mind," Saguru replied. "So we're free to stay here, as long as nobody else puts together the pieces?"

"I won't arrest you either, if that's what you're worried about," Rodier said back. "You're a good detective, Mr. Hakuba. The world could use a few more people like you."

Both police officers turned to leave. "Wait," Kaito said suddenly, startling everyone. "Inspector, one more thing."

Inspector Nakamori turned back. "Yes Kaito-kun?"

Kaito was silent at first. "Tell... Tell Aoko I'm sorry. Just tell her again, because I don't think it got through the first time."

Ginzo smiled. "Oh I think she knows that all too well, and just wasn't willing to accept it. I'll remind her though." Then he winked.

"Thank you," Kaito replied, conveying all the depth he needed with his voice.

* * *

The phone rang. This was very odd, for the usually only rang when the police wanted to talk to Saguru, but Saguru was already with the police. Therefore it was not the police wanting to talk to Saguru, therefore it was odd. Hesitantly Kaito reached over and picked it up. "_Bonjour, c'est Kirk_," he answered.

"_I am going to kill him_," came back in Japanese.

Kaito very nearly dropped the phone. "Temper temper my good woman?" he chided questioningly, wondering if he was unknowingly pressing any buttons.

"_Someone wants to talk to you, he said. Here's the number, call once I've left, he said. More to the point, how did he even get this number in the first place? You're a fugitive, he's chasing you, why does he have your phone number?_"

Kaito bit his lip. "He and I... have reached an agreement."

"_Oh? And what kind of agreement would that be?_"

"Don't worry, I've got a nanny to keep me in line," Kaito joked.

"_And how often do you escape this nanny of yours?_"

"You wound me," Kaito replied over-dramatically. "Escaping is for criminals, and I'm not a criminal."

"_You could've fooled me._" Kaito sighed. This was not going well at all. To be fair he hadn't exactly been expecting it, but still. Aoko spoke up again. "_So... is Hakuba-kun with you?_"

"Yes. Not here at moment, he's at work right now, but we do share an apartment."

"_And where is here?_"

Kaito paused. "Why do you want to know?"

"_Oh not to turn you over or anything. Dad has your number and isn't doing anything about it, so I assume that I'm being kept in the dark about something. Again._"

Her barb did not go unnoticed. "Montreal," Kaito finally answered. "Is that good enough for you?"

"_Not actually, no. See, and I can't believe I thinking this myself, but I'm finding myself contemplating a visit for some reason. Probably to break your nose, since I didn't get to before._"

"You wouldn't hurt an invalid," Kaito exclaimed, faking scathing tone.

"_You're not invalid, you're insane._"

"I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?" Kaito asked, making a beeline for dangerous territory.

"_Apology accepted, but I don't forgive you. I'm not going to beat you up, but I'm not going to be all hugs and kisses either. I'm going to give you a black eye, then you and Hakuba-kun are going to take me to the finest restaurant in Montreal, and then you two are going to tell me just what the hell is going on._"

"Then what?"

"_I don't know. We'll see where it goes from there._"

And somehow after that they started talking about completely nonsensical things. How Aoko was doing, what she was studying in university, an asshole she'd dumped a couple weeks before, politics. Kaito talked about some of the cases Saguru had solved recently, recommended a few good books, and did his best to make Aoko's mouth water for not-quite-French food. What seemed like hours later they finally hung up, Kaito with the admonishment to not hurt her father too much, Aoko with the promise that she'll call again when she has plane tickets. And Kaito thought that maybe, just maybe, he hadn't lost everything entirely.

* * *

"Sir, can I ask you a hypothetical question?"

Chief Inspector Grayson looked up to see the promising young Officer Rodier poking his head in his office. He smiled widely. "Of course, Officer. Fire away."

"Oh good," Rodier answered, stepping inside the office and shutting the door. "It's just something that had occurred to me, sort of like self-defense and what sort of situations where it becomes more than self defense."

"Go on," Grayson said, having the feeling that this was going to be interesting.

"So let's say that there's this serial killer running around. He's killed a whole bunch of people already and the police are stumped. A relative of one of the victims has something that could be a clue, but it's too vague or questionable for the police to consider it. So this relative decides to follow it himself. He follows it and it turns out to be a very good clue, but in the process of following it he's had to break a few laws himself. Should he be prosecuted for those crimes he committed while trying to bring down the serial killer?"

"Well first off the officer who dismissed the clue should be demoted on the spot," Grayson joked. He paused for a moment to think. "I think," he finally stated, "That it depends entirely on how good a clue it is and what crimes were committed. If this man killed someone to pursue his clue then he is no better than the person he is pursuing and should be punished accordingly. However, if it was just a little bit of breaking and entering, possibly a robbery or two of more potential evidence, then it should depend on how close he got to actually catching the killer. If this man really broke the law with only the best intent, then a simple rap on the knuckles and a stern look really should do it."

"It's one of those gray areas, isn't it?" Rodier agreed. "Well thank you sir for your opinion." He turned to go.

"Rodier," Grayson said as the other was exiting. Rodier turned back. "You're a fine officer. I have no doubt that whatever comes your way, you'll make the right decision."

"Yes sir," Rodier agreed again before he left.

* * *

It had been harrowing, hellish, horrendous, and a whole bunch of other words that started with h. At this point Saguru was wondering if things could possibly get any worse. When coming up with this insane plan he and Kaito had been too focused on the potential death-by-sniper result to even think of the potential graveyard-called-prison result.

Kaito's mother had come to visit almost immediately, and she and Kaito had had a tearful 'What the hell were you thinking?' conversation. The only thing Saguru heard from his father for a week was a 'He's very disappointed in you' from Nakamori, something which he later found out to be one of those understatements. His father then showed up and reamed into Saguru for a full fifteen minutes barely even stopping to breathe (Saguru got the feeling that he'd written it out ahead of time), used it as some fuel to insult his ex-wife for another five, and then finally asked Saguru if he had anything to say for himself. He didn't give him a chance to answer though before he told him that he never wanted to see Saguru's face again, that he was a disgrace to the Hakuba name, and, just to make sure his bases were well and truly covered, that it was probably all that stuck-up English bitch's fault. Baaya later popped her head in to inform him that his parents were running up the telephone bill shouting blame at each other.

But, instinctively, Saguru and Kaito knew that the worst was yet to come. And they knew, instinctively, that it was going to come in the form of the Inspector's daughter.

"Aoko-san's coming," Saguru one day informed his cell mate.

"Fuck," was all that Kaito said. Saguru had to agree with the sentiment.

And then she was there. There were huge bags under her eyes, and her hair was messier than usual. Her clothes were slapdash, and the general appearance was of someone who was very, very miserable with their lot in life. "You assholes," she said, all fire, no warmth.

Saguru was going to follow Kaito's lead in this unless she specifically talked to him. After all they had known each other a lot longer, and he had no delusions as to whether or not Aoko would bother if it were just him. Kaito was silent at first, seemingly waiting for Aoko to go on. When she didn't he cleared his throat. "It's nice to see you too," he said, the general awkwardness of everything causing the irony to be lost.

"I hate you."

"I'm sorry?" Kaito tried.

"You're despicable and unforgivable."

Kaito stood up and slowly made his way towards where he could hear Aoko's voice, stopping when he reached the bars. Aoko likewise backed up. "Aoko Aoko Aoko," he repeated. "I am so, so sorry.

Aoko took a deep, shuddering breath, clearly trying not to cry. "Why the hell would you do something so immoral and illegal?"

"If I told you that we had a really good reason, would you forgive us?"

"No."

"Well we did," Kaito replied. "We did and I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. And I can't stand the idea that you'll hate me for the rest of your life so please just forgive me even though I have no right to ask for such a thing."

Aoko suddenly strolled forward and shoved hard on Kaito's chest through the bars. "Don't you get it?" she finally screamed, snapping. "I trusted you! Trusted you! And who do you think it was that told Dad to be there? Whose idea do you think it was? I wanted proof that it wasn't you damn it! I wanted proof that it wasn't you and everything really was okay and damn it Kaito but you never fall down the stairs! Never! I wanted it to be just coincidence but there's no such thing as coincidence is there? You broke the law and you lost something, a whole bunch of somethings! And look at you! Look at you now! You're twisted! Your mind is twisted and you've twisted Hakuba-kun's and this is all your fault! I hate you! I hate you! _I hate you!_"

"Aoko, I'm sorry," Kaito said quietly.

"I don't care! If you were really sorry you wouldn't have done any of this in the first place! Who are you? I don't know this man, this person, this _thing!_ I don't know you!"

And Aoko honestly looked like she was about to leap at the bars on the attack, but the guard came over and put a hand on her arm and suggested that maybe she should go. And with one last scathing look at Kaito, she did.

"I've really screwed up this time, haven't I?" Kaito said quietly once she had gone.

"Yeah," Saguru agreed. "Yeah, you really have."

* * *

It was the dead of night. Nothing moved in the quiet prison. All was silent.

Then why was Saguru awake?

Slowly he sat up on the cot, looking around. Something was not right. The hairs on the back of his neck were prickling with an instinctual warning: get out. Despite it being the middle of summer, Saguru suddenly felt very cold. What if...?

Quietly he picked Kaito out in the dark. "Kuroba," he hissed quietly. "Kuroba."

Kaito was awake almost instantly. "What is it?"

"The people that killed... that you were after," Saguru said, changing mid-sentence. "Could they possibly have connections within the police?"

"Stupid, that was one of the main reasons I didn't go to the Inspector with this," Kaito replied dully. There was a pause as comprehension dawned. "You think we need to get out?"

"Every instinct I have is telling me to run," Saguru confirmed.

And in the morning the cell was empty. Kuroba Kaito and Hakuba Saguru were gone, just a whisper on the wind. And no one thought they'd ever see them alive again.

* * *

They had always stayed out of each other's lives, at least as much as they could. That way they could always pull the plausible deniability card if they really had to. Fortunately that situation had never come into play, though far worse had.

They hadn't been perfect of course – no married couple was – but they did a pretty good job of it altogether. Besides, the police already suspected a connection, so it was okay to poke at each other as long as they were under the mask. And when the worst happened she had kept quiet about as much as she had put together, because that had been their vow.

But then worse came to worse, and she started contemplating coming out of retirement. Who were they to destroy her family? Her inner trickster suddenly became serious, demanding not to take this lying down. She was loathe to turn it down, but Kaito needed her now, needed her to be his mother more than ever before.

But then it came to even worse. Kaito was gone. Just gone. She had no one left. They had truly destroyed her family. And she was not going to take this lying down because damn it but they were hers. And thieves were notoriously territorial.

"Phantom Lady returns," she muttered to herself as she dusted off the tools of her trade. She grinned wickedly. She liked the sound of that. It had just the air she was going for. A phantom ghost, out for vengeance.

* * *

**There you have it. The end. I hope you've enjoyed my experiment and don't think I'm just nuts. Reviews, as always, are highly appreciated.**


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